Want to start your own IIHA Chapter in your hometown? Any member of IIHA can petition to start their own city chapter. Petitioners must acknowledge Articles X, XI, and XVIII of IIHA bylaws (shown below). Please email your application to Glenn Tam.

ARTICLE X: Establishing City Chapters

Any general member may propose to establish an Investment Industry Harvard Alumni city chapter to the Executive Committee. Upon approval, the general member will be the Chapter Representative for that city for the next 2 years.
 

To propose a new city chapter, the member must:


● Above all, uphold the Code of Conduct and Guidelines Regarding Conflict of Interest (below) stated in this document;
● Appoint another general member willing to take over operations for that city in case the Chapter Representative quits;
● Agree to hold a physical event (e.g. group meetup or guest speaker) at least twice per year.
● Provide a detailed plan to execute their first event.
● Provide a list of at least 10 members willing to join the first event.
● Adhere to all directives of the Executive Committee.


The Executive Committee will review each city chapter proposal and renewal on a case-by-case basis and reserves the right to revoke the privileges of the Chapter Representative for any violations.
 

Every city chapter event will be subject to approval of the Executive Committee.

 

ARTICLE XI: Guidelines Regarding Conflict of Interest

All members of Investment Industry Harvard Alumni must be highly sensitive to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest and acknowledge that:

 

● The SIG is prohibited from managing investments or funds in any way, and is precluded from promoting or selling investment products to anyone.
● The SIG represents Harvard and the HAA. Even the appearance of a conflict of interest could damage the SIG’s reputation and that of Harvard and the HAA.

● All leaders of the SIG have a duty to the SIG and its members to ensure that the SIG operates exclusively to further the goals of Harvard and the HAA for the benefit of its members and not to further any personal or business interests.
● If the SIG is a tax-exempt entity or has charitable status, a conflict of interest could jeopardize the maintenance of its tax-exempt or charitable status.

 

All members of Investment Industry Harvard Alumni understand and acknowledge that conflicts of interest can arise as a result of the activities of a range of people involved with the SIG, including but not limited to:

 

● Current Officers or Directors;
● Committee members;
● SIG administrators, employees or volunteers;

● SIG members;
● Donors or sponsors of SIG activities; or
● Any of their immediate family members.

 

Further, all members of Investment Industry Harvard Alumni understand and acknowledge that the general definition of a "real or apparent conflict of interest" is very broad:

 

● Any personal or business interest of any of the individuals or organizations described above that conflicts or might conflict with the interests and goals of Harvard, the HAA, or the SIG.
● The use of the resources of the SIG (including access to members) to further a personal or business interest.

● Some real-world examples of potential conflicts include, but are not limited to:

 

  • A SIG member asking for access to members for the purpose of advertising or selling tax planning or financial advisory services.

  • A volunteer interviewer who runs a college admissions advisory business asking to advertise that business to Harvard applicants or their parents.

  • A SIG member who receives a fee from the Cub or SIG in exchange for services, such as arranging a SIG event, designing a website, or leasing office space or equipment to a SIG.

  • A sponsor of a SIG event asking for access to a SIG's members email list to advertise their products or services.

  • Any proposed activity that fails a “common sense test.” If it might appear to others to be a conflict of interest, then it probably is.

 

Process for dealing with real or apparent conflicts of interest:

 

●​ Wherever possible the SIG will adopt a written policy and communicate it to officers, directors and members. The SIG will adapt this written policy to the particular circumstances of the SIG and use it as a short form policy statement.
● Any activity that might give rise to a real or apparent conflict of interest must be disclosed to the SIG Executive Committee before the proposed activity takes place. The proposed activity should not take place without prior discussion and approval by the committee.

● The fact that a situation like one of those described above exists does not necessarily mean that a conflict exists, or that a conflict, if it does exist, is necessarily adverse to the interests of the SIG. The Executive Committee should apply common sense in making these determinations. The most important thing is that all of the relevant facts and circumstances are disclosed, and that the committee makes a determination before the activity takes place.

● In some, hopefully rare, circumstances, the SIG will need the power to enforce the conflict of interest policy. In order to ensure reasonable compliance, The Executive Committee will exclude any individual from membership and participation in the SIG for violation of the conflict of interest policy.

 

ARTICLE XVIII: Other Requirements

Operating principles

The SIG acknowledges and will abide by all operating principles set forth by the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), including, but not limited to, the following:

  1. Adhere to the University’s policy on the use of the Harvard name and insignias.

  2. It is the HAA’s responsibility to remain neutral on all political issues both inside and outside the Harvard community, as dictated by HAA policy. If the focus of the SIG is advocacy, the group must qualify for and secure the appropriate 501(c) IRS status, or any international equivalent. Any position of the SIG must always be qualified with clear language that states: “The [Group] does not represent the President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard University) or the Harvard Alumni Association.”

  3. Refrain from discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

  4. Refrain from fundraising practices of any kind for purposes that are not related to the SIG’s stated core mission. SIGs may fundraise from the membership only for the organization’s stated mission and may not fundraise for other unrelated charitable organizations. For example, SIGs may fundraise to generate membership dues, to establish summer fellowships, and to pay for operating expenses. However, a SIG created around chess cannot fundraise for Habitat for Humanity.

  5. Obtain written approval from the Harvard University Development Office to conduct fundraising of any kind for purposes that overlap with the University’s priorities. This would apply to fundraising in such areas as accepting corporate support, funding academic chairs, and creating student scholarships. Such communications would, as appropriate, enable SIGs to partner with and leverage the resources and information of the Harvard University Development Office.

  6. SIGs may solicit corporate sponsorship for events only in an amount that does not exceed the greater of (1) the expenses of a particular event, or (2) the SIG’s annual operating expenses. Requests for and acknowledgements of corporate sponsorships must clearly state that the contribution is to the SIG and not to Harvard University.

  7. Remain an independent organization, and not become a chapter of a non-Harvard organization.

  8. Refrain from starting or investing in any commercial enterprise

  9. Not set up a regional Harvard Club as a “front” for promoting the goals of the SIG.

  10. Not be established specifically to support a Harvard research center or initiative without written permission

    from the Provost’s office.

 

Policy on the use of Harvard name and insignias

  1. All Shared Interest Groups recognize that “Harvard,” “Harvard University,” “Harvard Alumni Association,” “VERITAS shield,” “HAA logo,” various other University School shields, and all other University trademarks are the sole property of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Shared Interest Groups also recognize that “Harvard,” “VERITAS shield,” and “HAA logo” are trademarks used with the permission of the University.

  2. Shared Interest Groups may not alter the Harvard Veritas shield or HAA logo. Newly created Veritas Shields or HAA logos incorporating a Shared Interest Group's name or logo are not permissible.

  3. Shared Interest Groups may use the Harvard Graduate School shields to demonstrate their commitment to all University alumni. These shields must be used collectively and may not be altered. Newly created Graduate School shields incorporating a Shared Interest Group’s name or logo are not permissible.

  4. All Shared Interest Groups understand they may only use the “Harvard,” “HAA logo,” “VERITAS shield,” and the collective Graduate School shields and that these trademarks may only be used to identify the group on signage, letterhead, business cards, and on some products (as defined below). Permission must be obtained from the Harvard Trademark Program in order to use these marks for any other purpose than as noted above or in order to use any University trademark other than those noted above. In general, activities of the groups should always be described as being undertaken by the group’s name and not by “Harvard” or “Harvard University.”

  5. Registration of any of Harvard’s trademarks anywhere in the world can only be done with written permission of the Trademark Program and any such registration must be owned by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

  6. Shared Interest Groups may sell insignia items (t-shirts, mugs, etc.) containing the SIG’s name in combination with the “VERITAS shield,” the “HAA logo”, or the collective Graduate School shields only to their members.

  7. Shared Interest Groups may give away items bearing the SIG’s name in combination with the “HAA logo,” the “VERITAS shield,” or the collective Graduate School shields to donors or to group members.

  8. Shared Interest Groups may not sell any items bearing any of the University’s trademarks, including items bearing “Harvard,” “HAA logo,” the “VERITAS shield,” or the collective Graduate School shields to the general public.

  9. Shared Interest Groups that wish to use their name on a publication must receive permission to do so from HAA before its production and, if given permission to proceed, must identify themselves as a “Harvard Alumni Association Shared Interest Group” on the cover of the publication.

 

Nomenclature

The name of the SIG must include the word “Alumni” and not include the word “Association”, “Club”, or “Fund”.

 

Governance

Each SIG is an independent volunteer-driven entity and, as such, the HAA is in no way involved in its management. The HAA may suggest a basic governing structure that has been successful for other SIGs.

 

HAA Limitation of Liability Disclaimer

Neither Harvard University, nor the HAA, is responsible for the group’s practices and reserves the right to deny the SIG any and all benefits of affiliation at any time should the SIG be in breach of the agreement.